World Journal of Surgery

The last three decades have witnessed a progressive evolution in the surgical treatment of esophageal achalasia, with a shift from open to a minimally invasive Heller myotomy. The laparoscopic approach is currently the standard of care with better short-term outcomes and similar long-term functional results when compared to open surgery. More recently, the laparoscopic single-site approach and the use of the robot have been proposed to further improve the surgical outcome in achalasia patients.

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BACKGROUND: Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare malignancy. In the absence of metastatic disease, the suspicion of ACC is based on size and radiological appearance. The aim of this study was to analyse the long-term outcome of patients with large adrenal cortical tumours (>8 cm). METHODS: A prospective database recorded clinical, biochemical, operative and histological data on patients operated for cortical adrenal tumours between January 2000 and February 2013...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to explore the short-term effects of preoperative serum hepatitis B virus DNA level (HBV DNA) on postoperative hepatic function in patients who underwent partial hepatectomy for hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: The clinical data of 1,602 patients with hepatitis B-related HCC who underwent partial hepatectomy in our department were retrospectively studied. The patients were divided into three groups according to their preoperative HBV DNA levels: group A <200 IU/mL, group B 200-20,000 IU/mL, and group C >20,000 IU/mL...

BACKGROUND: Trauma continues to be a major health problem worldwide, particularly in the developing world, with high mortality and morbidity. Yet most developing countries lack an organized trauma system. Furthermore, developing countries do not have in place any accreditation process for trauma centers; thus, no accepted standard assessment tools exist to evaluate their trauma services. AIM: The aims of this study were to evaluate the trauma system in Albania, using the basic trauma criteria of the American College of Surgeons/Committee on Trauma (ACS/COT) as assessment tools, and to provide the Government with a situational analysis relative to these criteria...

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether microarray gene expression analysis can be used to predict lymph node status in gastric cancer. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients undergoing gastrectomy for cancer were enrolled and subdivided according to the pathologic nodal involvement of their disease (N+ vs. N0). Molecular profiling was performed by cDNA microarray on tumor tissue and healthy mucosa. Data were processed to identify differently expressed genes...

INTRODUCTION: In response to the need for simple, rapid means of quantifying surgical capacity in low resource settings, Surgeons OverSeas (SOS) developed the personnel, infrastructure, procedures, equipment and supplies (PIPES) tool. The present investigation assessed the inter-rater reliability of the PIPES tool. METHODS: As part of a government assessment of surgical services in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, the PIPES tool was translated into Spanish and applied in interviews with physicians at 31 public hospitals...

BACKGROUND: Success rates of initial surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) are greater than 95 % in specialized centers, mostly referring to single-surgeon experiences. The present study was performed to identify changes in clinical manifestations, diagnostic procedures, surgical strategies, and outcome of initial parathyroid interventions in a teaching hospital during the past 25 years with special regard to the surgical expertise. METHODS: Clinical data of patients who underwent an initial neck exploration for benign pHPT between 1985 and 2010 at the University hospital Marburg were retrospectively evaluated...

BACKGROUND: Short-term recovery after colorectal surgery has been traditionally investigated through length of stay (LOS). However, this measure is influenced by several confounding factors. This study aimed to investigate the construct validity and reliability of assessing the time to achieve standardized discharge criteria (time to readiness for discharge, or TRD) as a measure of short-term recovery. In a secondary analysis, we compared sample size requirements for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using TRD or LOS as outcome measures...

BACKGROUND: Chyle leak complicates 1.3-10.8 % of pancreatic resections. Universal use of parenteral nutrition following pancreatic resection may reduce the incidence of chyle leak. However, this denies the majority of patients who do not develop chyle leak the benefits of enteral nutrition (EN). The present study aimed to identify risk factors for chyle leak following pancreatic resection within a single institution where EN was used universally. METHODS: All patients who underwent pancreatic resection between January 2007 and December 2010 were identified retrospectively...

Belgian surgeon Charles Willems (1859-1930) played a prominent role in the founding of the Société Internationale de Chirurgie (International Society of Surgery), of which he became the first president in 1902. He kept the office until 1929, when illness obliged him to discontinue. He had an important military career in the Balkan War but especially during World War I. He later became Professor of Surgery at the University of Liège. He produced numerous scientific articles on various surgical subjects and even started a journal that was the forerunner of the World Journal of Surgery...

BACKGROUND: Although great efforts are being undertaken to reduce child morbidity and mortality globally, there is limited knowledge about the need for pediatric surgical care. Some data on surgical need is available from hospital registries, but it is difficult to interpret for countries with limited surgical capacity. METHODS: A cross-sectional two-stage cluster-based sample survey was undertaken in Sierra Leone, using the Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need tool...